


this is not real

by anon_drabble



Category: Mystic Messenger (Video Game)
Genre: All a game, Angst, Another Story (Mystic Messenger), F/M, Fictional Jumin/Real MC, It's only a game, Mystic Messenger is fictional, RFA are fictional
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-28
Updated: 2018-11-28
Packaged: 2019-09-01 22:18:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,347
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16774006
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anon_drabble/pseuds/anon_drabble
Summary: this is a jumin/mc fic but there are vibes of ray/mc as well. basically, this is a combination of the “it’s only a game” trope people attribute to seven mostly, but it’s like if the beginning of another story were real. if ray really was nothing more than an app/game developer and the rfa were only characters. but then mc falls in love with jumin, a purely fictional character. so kind of combine another story with “it’s only a game” and throw in some april fool’s dlc ending where zen realizes he and mc are in different dimensions. and you get this.





	this is not real

**Author's Note:**

> originally posted on my tumblr: https://anon-drabble.tumblr.com  
> if you're able, i definitely recommend you visit the tumblr where i do reblog prompts and also post additional content like much shorter fluff pieces and headcanons.  
> i always accept requests ♥

How many days had it been? MC thumbed her phone, her latest background image practically staring into her soul. It was an image of Jumin, of course. It usually was. This time, though, it felt more powerful. Compelling. She idly swiped through the screens, finding nothing that would hold her interest. Not like Jumin did. It had been days since she chatted with him. But that had been her own choice. He wouldn’t know. Wouldn’t notice. So while she knew it was only a matter of days, she thought it would be fine. But now she missed him. Strange to think like that. But she did.

MC turned off the screen, lifted herself to her feet, and went padding down the hallway. The plush carpeting muffled her footsteps. The paintings of flowers once held her interest but now she ignored them. She knew the route by heart. Pass the first four rooms, then turn right. Then it was the first room on the left. She didn’t bother to knock. He wouldn’t hear the knocking most likely anyways. The room was dark, as always. A wall of computer screens cast spooky shadows but there was nothing to be afraid of. Some screens showed the scrolling lines of code that MC couldn’t hope to understand. Others were tuned to the security cameras and flipped from hallway to hallway to the perimeter. No one ever came, though. Why would they?

In front of the screens, he sat huddled, fingers clacking loudly on the keyboards.

“Is it done yet?” she asked, the impatience creeping into her voice. The sound felt harsh in the cold room. It seemed unwanted against the rhythmic keyboard tapping.

He looked up, his pale mint-colored eyes showing his adoration of her. “MC! You came to visit me?” he asked. He practically begged her to show him just the smallest amount of kindness. She could command him to cut off his own arm and he would do so.

“Is it done yet?” she asked again, ignoring his pleading. He didn’t interest her. She just used him.

“Oh. The new scenario. Um, it almost is. I don’t think the bugs are gone yet…” he admitted, twisting his hands nervously in his lap. Would she be angry with him? Would he be punished?

“Is it playable, though? I want to start it.”

“I don't… I don’t think so. I’m sorry. I just need another day and it’ll be done. You’ll like it then. I promise.”

“All right, Ray. One more day.” She smiled at him, knowing it would encourage him. “You’re such a good boy, doing all this for me. I appreciate it, you know.” He was almost drooling to receive the praise. MC didn’t used to be that way. She never would have thought she’d end up being like Rika and using poor Ray for her own needs. But in some way, it was his own fault. He brought her here. He fell in love with her. He made her play the game.

At first, her interest had truly been in Ray. He was sweet, kind, and gentle. He worked so hard at everything he did. He was wildly creative, coming up with a game like Mystic Messenger. The characters were larger-than-life but within a span of eleven days, they almost felt real. In the early days, MC played to completion with Zen, Jaehee, and Yoosung. And they were fun enough for her to continue playing the game. Ray had based every single character on people in his life. Jaehee was based on his strict but mature tutor. Seven was modeled after Ray’s computer teacher who wore outrageous ties at school every day. Zen was the science teacher who would pretend he was terribly handsome and walked down the school hallways singing show tunes. So they almost felt like real people but there was always that layer that served to disconnect her from them. But Ray was a real person and he needed her almost like the RFA needed her. So maybe she led him on, though it wasn’t her intention. When she played Seven’s route, it left her feeling unsatisfied and she put off Jumin’s route.

Ray encouraged her to finish Jumin’s route, just to get the last ending she was missing. She did so. It…felt odd to her. Jumin’s route took her on a roller coaster. He was so different from the other RFA members. Ray told her that Jumin was like his uncle that he’d only met a few times. The man had always been in a suit and rarely smiled. Ray had been scared of him as a child so he gave Jumin a cat in the game to make him more endearing. So when MC played the game and journeyed down Jumin’s rabbit hole, the first time was a minor stirring. He was unexpectedly cute but he was still fictional. But she wanted to repeat his story and see the other ways to go. That was when she began drifting from Ray. Every time she repeated the route, she learned more and more about Jumin. His words were so subtle but the more she read them, the more she realized the pain this man was hiding. She wanted to help him. She wanted to hold him.

But he was only lines of code. He wasn’t real.

Ray was a small-time developer. He had hopes that Mystic Messenger would become his first big hit. MC had been his tester. He knew he was onto something when she became addicted. He’d used his savings to build a building to expand into. When Mystic Messenger was officially released, his dream came true. It was popular enough to give him the ability to develop more apps and more games. But MC made a strange request before the game went live: He was to remove Jumin’s route. He did so, though he didn’t understand why. Her version still had Jumin’s route. She wanted to keep it to herself. Her interest in Ray waned. He noticed and begged for her to stay with him. He was willing to do anything. She asked for a sweet story with Jumin on Valentine’s Day and Ray made it. He made a series for the rest o the characters, too and released it as an add-on for the game. She realized she could stay with Ray, Jumin’s creator, and would have closer access to his content.

And so, MC had led this mockery of a relationship to this point. She lived with Ray, occasionally gave him nice words, but saved her affection for the fictional character, Jumin. And now, MC had grown too accustomed to the story she already knew of Jumin. She had requested that Ray make a new story for Jumin. A new way to explore his very being. He was fictional but MC wanted to believe he could be real.

Though Ray was sweet and innocent, he wasn’t stupid. He knew MC barely thought of him, if at all. But he had given his heart to her and could only obey when she asked something of him. So he was writing and coding an entirely new route for her. He knew she wanted to seduce Jumin all over again. It hurt Ray to do so but he allowed for the romance she craved.

The next day, as promised, Ray finished the story for MC. She immediately gave all of her attention to Jumin. It was almost like starting over. She had to slowly weave herself into Jumin’s heart again. They met on the first day and by day four, she locked herself into his route. Same as always. This time, the story was about Jumin’s mother who was barely mentioned before. And Jumin’s multiple stepmothers that taught him that “love” was only owed to those who bought it. It was material and not real. Jumin tried to buy MC’s love and she helped him see past that. His emotions still overwhelmed him during the route and MC again helped him learn how to express them. MC only met Jumin briefly in this new story. He didn’t try to hold her in his apartment. He said new things. He opened up to her in different ways. Ray even inserted more phone calls.

When Jumin called on the tenth day, MC began to cry. She couldn’t help it. She knew her time with him was nearing the end.

“Are you well? I cannot believe tomorrow is the party,” Jumin said, and it felt so real.

Of course her responses were pre-programed. “Me, too. I can’t wait to see you.”

“I never once thought I would fall in love. But you showed me how right it can be and how wrong my father has been all this time.”

“You’re welcome, Jumin.” But MC still cried, wishing she could truly tell this man how she felt. “I love you, Jumin,” she whispered aloud.

There was a pause. “… MC, are you crying?” Jumin’s voice asked. What? Was it programmed that MC was crying in the game? But that made no sense! She nearly dropped her phone but held onto it. She tried to respond, but no buttons came up.

“Jumin! I love you. I love you. I know you’re not real but I love you. I wish I could be with you,” she sobbed into her phone.

“Not real? I don’t understand but I know you are crying. Please do not cry, my love. Are you saying our love is not real? In that case, you are terribly mistaken. This is as real as you or me.”

As real as Jumin? But he wasn’t real at all. The call suddenly ended and MC raced out of her room. Down that hallway. To Ray’s room.

“What is the meaning of this?!” she demanded.

“What? MC? Are you crying?” he asked, plainly confused.

“That phone call! Did you program that Jumin would ask why I was crying? Why weren’t there any responses? Why did it hang up like that?”

Ray just seemed lost. “What phone call? There’s only one phone call with Jumin on day ten and it’s at night. Your file says it’s too early. He wouldn’t call you or answer calls at this time.”

“No, Ray, he called me and asked why I was crying and it hung up! What did you do? I thought you said you fixed the bugs!”

“I did, MC, I promise! Here, let me bring the code up.” Ray’s nimble fingers typed in commands on the keyboard until the screen filled with gibberish to MC. Ray skimmed a while before pointing out a specific line. “See, here? This? It’s coded that if you call him now, he gives the ‘I’m working. I’ll call you later’ response. And up here? If you called Yoosung, he would answer and this is that conversation. There’s nothing in here about Jumin calling. He didn’t call you.”

MC took her phone and stormed out of the room. She hadn’t imagined the call. She knew it was real! Ray was wrong. Or lying to her. But when she loaded the game again, there was no record of the call. No incoming call log from Jumin. A few hours later, a chat with Zen and Seven came up. MC chatted with them but the game was normal. Same responses, no mention of anything strange. She almost wondered if she had imagined it. And then, after the chat, the game phone rang. Jumin?

“Something is wrong. My memory feels strange. I have never been one to forget important things. But suddenly I am feeling like I remember you in my penthouse. I almost remember reading to you but why would I do that? I remember a large cage for Elizabeth the Third. What are these memories? Why are they so unclear? They plague me.”

MC felt her breath catch in her chest. Those were parts from Jumin’s first route! No options came up but she held her phone to her ear like she was actually making a call. “It’s true, Jumin. That past is also true. We loved each other then, too. You’re…You’re not real, Jumin. You’re a character in a game. But I loved you so much so I wanted another story. But how can you remember anything. You’re not real, Jumin.”

“I see. I am not real. It is hard to believe but I have heard that many stories are like this. I am not comfortable knowing there was another past and I don’t remember every detail. I would prefer to know everything as the smallest detail becomes important when it pertains to you.”

“Jumin…I wish you were real. Why can’t I be with you?” she cried again.

He paused again and MC softly sniffled. “I, too, wish for that. Are you certain? Is there no doubt?”

“I know, Jumin. I know the programmer. The person who made you. The writer. Whatever you want to call him.”

“I see. Then I apologize as I have failed you.”

“Jumin, you couldn’t fail me. It’s not possible.”

“I have. You are crying and I cannot dry your tears. We will…always be separate.”

“Yes. I hate it but yes.”

“Then may I say one more thing? You must have a life outside of this. Even if you and I are forced apart, my love for you will always be real. That is not fictional. It is real and it is yours.”

“Jumin…” she sobbed.

“I would be happy if you would come to me when times are hard for you. I may not always be able to speak to you like this but I’m always with you because I truly love you. You are the keeper of my heart, MC. We cannot be together in person but do not be sad. I know I was given this chance to tell you I love you because your love for me was so deep. I will take this chance and tell you how I truly love you. No matter which way you may turn, I truly love you.”


End file.
